Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2022-05-11
Books mentioned on #284 – Saifedean Ammous: Bitcoin, Anarchy, and Austrian Economics
Saifedean Ammous is an Austrian economist and author of The Bitcoin Standard and The Fiat Standard. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – GiveWell: https://www.
Lex Fridman discussed The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous and others. Saifedean Ammous recommended The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier, and discussed Principles of economics by Carl Menger, The theory of money and credit by Ludwig von Mises, and Human Action by Ludwig von Mises and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
The Bitcoin Standard
Saifedean Ammous's "The Bitcoin Standard" offers a detailed exploration of the history of money and argues for the economic necessity of a hard, decentralized currency rooted in Austrian economic principles.
Discussed“People should know that you've written the book "The Bitcoin Standard" from 2018, I believe.”
Where to get it
-
Principles of economics
Principles of Economics by Carl Menger is a foundational economic text that established the Austrian School of Economics and introduced the revolutionary concept of marginalism.
Discussed“and the um the establishment of the austrian school per se came in 1871 150 years ago when karl menger the father of the school wrote a book called principles of economics and essentially invented marginal analysis which is a big deal in economics”
Where to get it
-
The theory of money and credit
The Theory of Money and Credit is a foundational treatise on monetary economics and business cycles written by Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises in 1912.
Discussed“and he developed a theory of money and um he wrote a book in 1912 called the theory of money and credit”
Where to get it
-
Human Action
Human Action by Ludwig von Mises is a foundational and dense treatise on Austrian economics, methodological individualism, and human decision-making.
Discussed“and then in the 40s he wrote human action which is a big treatise on economics”
Where to get it
-
The Blocksize War
The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier is an analytical deep dive into the intense scaling conflicts and ideological battles that tested the decentralized governance of Bitcoin.
Recommended“but there's a recent book that discusses this in detail called the blocksize war by jonathan beer”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (11) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“He's an Austrian economist, an anarchist, and the author of "The Bitcoin Standard" and the new book, "The Fiat Standard."”
“He's an Austrian economist, an anarchist, and the author of "The Bitcoin Standard" and the new book, "The Fiat Standard."”
“you've written the the book bitcoin standard from 2018 i believe yeah”
“in the bitcoin standard i present the argument that money is always whatever is the hardest thing to make”
“In "The Bitcoin Standard," I present the argument that money is always whatever is the hardest thing to make.”
“Over the last 150 years since 1870, I discuss this in detail in "The Bitcoin Standard."”
“and i discussed this in detail in uh the bitcoin standard what happened in 1870 was germany won the franco-prussian war and germany was on a silver standard”
“so if you look at on in the bitcoin standard i mentioned this metric called the stock to flow ratio which is the ratio of the annual production the flow to the stockpile the existing stockpiles”
“and i discussed this in chapter four of the bitcoin standard”
“After what happened in World War I, this changed; I discussed this in detail in The Fiat Standard.”
“But with the fiat system, and this is where I make a breakthrough in my book, fiat replaces gold mining with credit creation.”